G-R School Board

September 26, 2013

Thursday evening new staff to the Gladbrook-Reinbeck School District were introduced to the G-R Board at their regular meeting. They were: Victoria Duvall, 5th & 6th Language Arts; Katie Bauder, K-8 Special Education; Megan Neuwohner, 5th & 6th Math and 5th Science; and Jackie Bakker, FCS and College of Psychology at the Western Outreach Center.

Under the consent agenda Julie Wrage transferred from MS secretary position to an elementary one on one special education associate at the Reinbeck elementary. She had been fulfilling these duties for a couple of weeks.

Joan King transferred from her current associate position to the Gladbrook secretary position. Gage Smith was hired for the eight hour custodial position at the Gladbrook campus. He has been fulfilling these duties since the start of the school year but was under a 6 hour contract. Rick Benda was hired for the six hour custodial position at the Gladbrook campus. He had been working as a substitute since the start of the school year.

A contract was approved for Katie Bauder to be the middle school girls' track coach. The resignation of Cathy Storjohann from the coaching position of high school assistant girls' track was approved.

The Northern-Sun Print and the Reinbeck Courier were approved as the District's official publication. Ahlers and Cooney, PC was approved as the district's attorney.

Buildings and grounds update by Waylon Bern included the concession stand at the soccer field, the condensate pump in Gladbrook, the gym floor in Reinbeck, the boiler at the Reinbeck elementary and staffing.

Technology Coordinator Chad Bixby said that all computers have been rolled out and there have been few issues. Bixby along with Andrew McQuillen will be having a conference call this week with Canvas and hope to get some insight on how JMC and Canvas will be able to integrate better. The bandwidth upgrade is complete according to the ICN so both campuses should see a greater capacity and faster download times.

Athletic Directors John Olson and Jeff Charley presented athletic reports for the middle school and high school. Charley said the conference athletic directors will be going over conference realignment since South Tama will be leaving the conference and Sumner/Fredericksburg and Waterloo Columbus will be coming in.

Principal Matt Leeman said that he along with Principal Brian Williams, Lindsay Erickson (4th grade) and Sarah Block (1st) have been attending meetings with AEA staff. The Reinbeck Elementary was identified in the area of math as a School in Need of Assistance beginning with this school year. Leeman said three areas of focus have been established that came about when doing a diagnosis of current practices. They are: No District-Aligned Goals for Mathematics, Inconsistent curriculum across the District and curriculum not aligned to Core.

Starting with the month of October, a "Rebel of the Month" for one boy and one girl in each grade level at the Reinbeck Elementary will be selected. Leeman said this is a way to recognize the good things that students are doing. Every student that is chosen will receive a Subway Certificate and a "Rebel of the Month" certificate. The criteria will be that all assignments are completed, make only good choices and don't do any of the following - arguing/talking back to adults; throwing things; teasing/putdowns/name calling; lying; leaving room without permission; roughhousing resulting in harm; inappropriate use of technology and defiance. There will also be an opportunity for those students chosen to be drawn for a larger prize each month and at the end of the year all students who have been chosen at some point will go into a drawing for some bigger prizes. IMPACT/PTO will be paying for the prizes.

Leeman said the new camera in the parking lot has come in handy already a couple of times this year and he shared some live feeds for the board to see how it is working.

Principal Brian Williams said that K-12 teachers have been working in their Professional Collaborative Teams in identifying Essential Learning Outcomes by grade level and content. Essential Learning's are not minimum standards, but are the items that a student must know to be successful at the next level.

There is a new middle school student council. Two representatives from each grade 5-8 will be chosen. The goal for student council is to come up with service learning projects that impact the communities in a positive way. They will also lead building level projects that promote positive character in the middle school.

Holloway will advertise for a 7.5 hour library associate position for the Reinbeck elementary and the Reinbeck campus and a two hour contract for Kim Thompson was approved. Thompson has been filling in each day as a general education associate since King became the Gladbrook secretary.

Jeff Mayes received approval for the addition of a general store to the greenhouse and up to $3,000 PPEL money will be used to purchase the materials. Labor to construct the building will be from the Ag students and volunteers in the community. Mayes said the greenhouse has been successful over the last few years.

Oleson reviewed the Certified Annual Report/Special Ed Supplement and also the Transportation Report. This year the number of route miles traveled was 74,195, down from 79,613 in 2011-12. Operating costs totaled $435,884.95 and the average cost per mile traveled was $3.77, compared to $3.62 last year. These reports may be reviewed at the business office.

The Title 1 application for $44,939 was approved. These funds will help pay salaries and benefits for the two special education staff members Jane Love and Lyn Purvis. The board approved the District Developed Service Delivery Plan as presented by Mr. Williams.

The board approved the Financial Planning Program Contract for $2,750, using PPEL funds. Services included are historic trends, incorporate district assumptions and factual information, develop a five year financial projection and provide 'what if' scenarios. Holloway said this would help him as well as the board to make future financial decisions.

Three additional special education associates will be hired using special education allowable growth money.

Holloway said he is trying to end a five-year contract with Aramark Uniform Services as he feels the cost associated with their products and services is extremely high.